A power rooted in darkness
by kedrann
Summary: Your power is rooted in darkness… Dracula's words had been haunting her but little did she know what they entailed and the faraway place she would learn their true meaning.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author notes:**__ This is a plot bunny that took a life of its own as I started to write it to go around a writer's block. It is based on a rather heavily modded TES V: Skyrim to reflect my own installation, with some additional modifications because this story is not limited by things like playability and processing power. _

_**Summary: **__Your power is rooted in darkness… Dracula's words had been haunting her but little did she know what they entailed and the faraway place she would learn their true meaning. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing of the following fandoms_

_- Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

_- Anything related to the Elder Scrolls Series_

* * *

><p>"Mommy, can you tell me a story?"<p>

Buffy smiled at the little girl lying near her, hoping it would hide the sorrow in her eyes. True, she had given Sofie a home but there was still that little part of her that told her she had done something terrible, that she should have let the orphan find peace in Arkay's cold embrace rather than making her part of the family.

"Mommy, you are sad again, right?" said Sofie, rising to come hug her.

"A little, sweetie."

"It's all right. I like it here even if I w… would like it if there were other kids here at the castle," she said while bumping her head with her tiny fist, smiling comically to berate herself about almost using the dreaded w-word. "So warm… they really have good ideas on your world," she continued as she snuggled back under the duvet.

Buffy looked fondly at her as she tucked her daughter in. Sure, the Californian Slayer was not as smart as her genius friend Willow, but she knew enough to give tips to local artisans about some things, like a duvet or pajamas. For the latter, she had gone for silk, after she innocently asked if someone ever thought about harvesting and weaving the webs of those icky giant spiders so common in Skyrim.

_Ronthil probably overdid it with the bat motif on her pajamas, but it looks terribly cute on her… _

"Can you tell me a story about Sunnydale?"

"Sure, but a short one. The sun is already up and you need your beauty sleep. So, this one happened shortly after your auntie Dawn came to live with me. You remember what I told you about the vamps?"

"That's the kind of vampires you had in Sunnydale but they're not real ones… from what you said and what grandmother taught me, I think it's rather like when we use blood magic to raise something dead. I mean, the body's moving but there is no soul in it, just magic and maybe a summoned Daedra so that it has a will."

Buffy could not help but return Sofie's smile, seeing how proud she was to have remembered all of it. The Californian girl had rather mixed feelings on the question but she had to admit that her mother-in-law's arguments were sound, particularly after what Buffy had nicknamed the 'Pet Sematary' incident. Even if she would have preferred to shield Sofie from some unsavory realities, this was not a luxury they could afford. Necromancy 101 had to be among her daughter's lessons for safety reasons.

"Right," replied the Slayer. "They are different. Vampires can choose, just like humans can. Vamps can't because the Daedric Prince who created them didn't want true people, he just wanted a weapon. But there are exceptions. Dracula, as annoying as he is, is one of those…"

A little later, after Sofie had drifted into sleep, Buffy closed the lid of her daughter's 'bed', letting her rest for the day. She could feel the weight of the sun herself, even with the comforting presence of the thick castle walls around her. Once again, she told herself that it wasn't that bad, that with the treatment they had devised, Sofie would continue to grow up normally and only stop aging when around twenty or so.

_No ending up stuck like the girl in that movie with Brad Pitt… and more than all, she has her soul and I have mine… despite what we have become. _

What she had become… her mind drifted, remembering her arrival in Skyrim, the start of the chain of events that led her down that dark road…

* * *

><p>Her head hurt. She remembered falling… no, jumping. Yes, that was it, she had jumped from the tower. Why did she… damned headache, she couldn't think straight and her back was killing her. Glory, it was Glory's fault. The fallen Hell Goddess had kidnapped Dawn, wanted to use her to collapse the dimensional walls. The monster had almost… no, not almost. Dawn's blood had been shed, the process had started and she had sacrificed herself to stop it, to save her little sister and the world. There had been a great light then, a feeling that soon she would finally be able to rest but… it did not last. She remembered something else, voices arguing, maybe about her. After that, she had fallen again – she wasn't sure where – and she had been knocked out.<p>

She was hearing the wind blowing around and feeling something cold beneath her, snow maybe. Where was she? She opened her eyes and saw ancient walls of grey stone, a carved head that made her think of Viking boats and, yes, definitely snow. It was night and something immediately caught her eye: the huge moon in the sky that had more in common with the pictures she had seen of Mars than the one she was used to.

"Not in Kansas anymore…"

She knew that she should not listen to her exhaustion, not fall asleep in this place. She should find shelter, maybe a way to make some fire. That black, metallic door she could glimpse from the corner of her eye. Now if she could only muster enough energy to rise… she blinked. There was someone standing near her and she was sure he had not been there two seconds earlier. That wasn't even the most surprising thing about him though.

It was her father. His elegant suit looked completely out of place with the snowy ruins around them. He had a bemused grin as he looked at her. His eyes… Hank Summers was a jerk but he had never looked at her like this. This was the kind of gaze she had sometimes seen in the worst of the jocks in high school, those who considered girls pieces of meat. No, it was even worse, sicker. It was the gaze of a man who wouldn't care if she said no, a man who would just take what he wanted from her and then discard her broken remains like trash.

She tried to move, tried to gather some strength in her limbs but to no avail. Her body felt like it was made of lead and even breathing was difficult now. The only good – or maybe even more worrying – thing was that she wasn't feeling the cold as much now.

"So, won't you say hello to Daddy?" he asked while his eyes continued to… molest her.

"You're not my Dad," she replied, finding back some breath. "I don't know what demon you are but…"

"I am not Hank Summers. That much is true. I took this appearance because it is easier for you to relate to it… and because it pleases me to help you hate him more. Anyway, I can reassure you. The paralysis is temporary, just to make sure you listen to me. Do not worry about exposure either, my spell is shielding you from that as well."

"What do you want?"

"That's a good question. You see, I could have let you arrive here, completely clueless and watched you stumble around Tamriel. But I have realized something by thinking about how you behaved in the last months. So tired, so ready to just make your final bow and exit the stage. The problem is that if I am to get what I want from you, I need you to want to live. I need you to want to fight and, most of all, I need you to hate me. The amusing thing is that in order to obtain this, all I have to do is to tell you the truth."

"Okay, I suppose that's honest. So if you're not about to kill me, who are you?"

"I will let you discover the name I use on this world by yourself. What I will tell you for now is that you can define me by two things. The first is that I am one of those who banished Glorificus. By the way… Giles killed Ben. Such a face! Disappointment, maybe even anger, while he just cleaned up after you. Tell me, daughter mine, what would you have done when Glory started to kill again? What would you have told to her victims' loved ones? Would you have told them that your principles about not killing humans were more important than their lives? Or maybe it was something more cunning… maybe you knew that Giles would do it and you let him do the dirty work so that you could look like the noble hero."

She scowled at him. His words had a way of worming into her mind, of making her feel dirty. The worst was that she believed him about Giles killing Ben. Giles wouldn't have taken the risk, he would have killed Glory's human host to make sure she was destroyed. He had done what she couldn't. He had cleaned up after her. He had made up for her weakness.

_Weakness? What am I thinking? _

She looked at the monster wearing her father's face, seeing his smile. She somehow knew that he was all about strength… no, not strength. Domination was the word she was looking for. He was exerting his power over her and expected her to do the same with those beneath her. He was now crouching near her and feeling her up, to let her know that she was just something he owned.

"A pity I do not have the time to take you using this shape, to brand it forever in your memory," replied the man. "Can you imagine yourself screaming of pleasure under me?" he said while he caressed one of her breasts.

Buffy felt rage growing. It was not only the way he was touching her but also that… holding onto her rage was the only thing that allowed her not to cower in shame. She didn't know what magic he was using but her body was responding to his touch. She tried to bite him as his hand caressed her face, anything to show at least some defiance.

"So feisty… I have observed you many times, daughter mine. Wild, untamed… I was looking forward to welcoming you home."

"Cut with the 'daughter mine'. I am not yours."

"Oh, but you are! You just don't know it. I am the father of a very important part of you. A long time ago, the first Watchers contacted me. They needed a champion to ensure their domination over their world. So I bonded a little part of my essence to the girl they provided me, a cute little thing called Sineya… I still remember her moans fondly. I gave them the first Slayer and in exchange, you all come to me after death. As you can imagine, the Watchers thought a few girls' souls were not that big of a sacrifice for the Greater Good."

Again, she had that feeling and now she had a good idea of why. It was the Slayer in her. The Slayer knew this creature and it was because of it that she reacted that way. It was because of it that she was feeling that what he had just said was true. It was also because of it that his presence was stirring that reaction Slayer had, the one that got them hungry and horny after a fight. She was wet down there and had to fight against the desire to spread her legs for him. The worst was what she could see in his eyes. He knew how her body was reacting and he was seeing the fury in her eyes, the anger at her own, traitorous flesh. He was getting off on degrading her and if he had the time, she had little doubt that he would delight in the horror in her eyes while her body whored itself with him.

"So what now?" she asked, trying to keep what little control she still had on her body.

"Now? You are free… up to a point. Make yourself a life on this world and know that I will wait for your soul to come to me after your death. As I am a loving father, I also leave you with a boon, just some basics that will help you here on Tamriel, as well as a little something to help you not associate with the bad crowd."

He turned her over and lifted her sweater to expose her flesh. She felt his hand caress her and… pain seared through her lower back. She concentrated, mustering all the willpower she could. She would not give him that satisfaction. She would not scream. She would not beg.

"Very good," he whispered in her ear while leaning on her. "I see that you are ready to be strong, daughter mine, ready to be a lion among sheep. Have fun and come see Daddy in Coldharbour!"

She heard his laugh as he left. She curled slowly as she felt life coming back in her limbs. There was a part of her wanting to die, to end it all but… if what that monster had said was true, it wasn't an option. She was damned. All Slayers were damned and she needed to go back, to confront Giles on the matter, to know if he knew or if it was only some Head Watchers like Travers who did.

She tried to rise. With movement something else was coming back too. The cold was piercing now, starting to feel like needles on her exposed skin. Without shelter, she would not survive the night.

_And for all I know, I might be in this world's Alaska and sunrise is three months away. Rise, Buffy!_

Her legs were finally responding and she got up. She spent a few seconds arranging her clothes and started to move. She wouldn't last long with jeans and a sweater, not with a temperature nearing zero. She started to walk toward the door she had seen, paying a lot of attention to where she was stepping. The hard snow could easily hide slippery ice or worse things, like big, deep holes.

She finally reached the door. It was made of a black metal, maybe some kind of steel. All that she was sure of was that despite its age, there wasn't even a speck of rust on it. She pushed on it and it opened quietly. Too quietly and years of Slaying experience sent alarms to her brain. Beyond it were some kind of stairs going down, in the darkness and a subtle scent she knew all too well. She was in a tomb.

"Later… survive the cold first."

She dug in her jeans' pocket, finding a gift she had kept… she wasn't sure why. She didn't smoke and she… well maybe she didn't hate Spike that much anymore and the Zippo was nice, sturdy and very helpful in case she had to light something on fire. Feeling it ready to be lighted in her hand, she leaned back on the door and closed it. The air was still cold but a little less so. She could still feel some draft which meant the door wasn't airtight and that the air had a good chance of being breathable.

Buffy lit the Zippo and started to look around. There wasn't much here but she could see some wood and old linen laying around. She checked the latter and nodded when she noticed it was dry. Girl Scouts had never been her thing but she should manage to build a fire. She had to. She considered her options. She could go down the stairs and try to see what she could find but she wasn't stupid enough to build a fire in a room without any way to make air. So she would have to stay here, near the door and just go down to gather material.

She started to hunt. There was a room down the stairs but it was mostly buried under rocks, probably from an old cave-in. Still, she had some luck. Her first findings had been a stone vat with grease in it, linen strips and wood. She quickly rubbed some linen on the grease and wrapped it around a piece of wood, thanking for once the adventure movies Xander had made her watch. She felt with delight the heat of the flame as she lit her improvised torch.

_Good, I can even put it in that sconce… which means this room was meant to be visited. _

She prepared a few other torches then hunted for other material. She had enough to make a decent fire but she needed more. Winter clothes if she hoped to survive outside, then food and water. There were some things that she could use among the rubble though none of that. What she had found were tools that looked like the surgical kind to her.

_Got it. Linen strips in quantity and scalpels. They make mummies around here. Still sharp. Better than nothing. _

She took one of the stone vats she had found and hauled it back up the stairs. It was heavy but not that big of a deal with her Slayer strength. Another trip and she had enough wood, linen and grease to build a decent fire, plus all of her spare torches. Flames rose and she felt better as she sat on the stone steps near the fire, her back leaning against the wall. She was so tired…

* * *

><p>"Sorry, Sir, but isn't the Jarl…"<p>

The bald, middle-aged man turned to smile at his student. While he could have passed relatively unnoticed in California… provided it was at a Ren Fair, she definitely couldn't. Between her gray skin and the red on red, slanted eyes, she would have needed to aim for a different kind of convention where people would probably have complimented her on her costume. For this world, though, she was just another Dunmer, another dark elf.

"You are right, Brelyna. We are still negotiating with the Jarl to have the authorization to make some proper research at the Saarthal site. This is an emergency however. We already lost too much time pinpointing the exact location of the event."

The girl nodded as she continued to follow her teacher. She was studying Conjuration at the College of Winterhold and she regularly assisted Phinis Gestor with his research. A few hours ago, one of those experiments had gone wrong and they had determined it was because of a portal opening in the nearby site of Saarthal. From what she had read on the matter, the site was the mostly buried remnants of an ancient Nord capital city that had been wiped out by the Snow Elves during the Merethic Era.

This was why they were negotiating the treacherous slopes to reach the bottom of a hole where stood an entrance leading to what was left of the city's catacombs. It hadn't snowed last night and she could still glimpse some footprints in the hard snow below. She looked better, thanking the fact that the sun was still too low to wash everything in white reflected light.

_Yes, something has fallen here in the snow… something humanoid. Then it got up and went for the door. _

She looked around for her teacher and saw that he was casting several spells to analyze the remnants of the portal. She decided to inspect the door in the meantime, taking care not to walk on the footsteps. Now that she could observe them better, she could see that they were made by rather small boots with a clearly marked heel.

"Sir!" she called. "Someone went in there recently."

The man nodded and came to rejoin her while she carefully pushed the door. Nord tombs too often sheltered a kind of undead called Draugr. No such things here, just cold air and a shape in the darkness, sitting near the almost cold ashes of a fire. She concentrated, and cast a light spell. It would surely give her away but better that than to stumble in the darkness. Another quick spell and she felt a little safer while her skin briefly took the appearance of bark.

The 'shape' was a human girl in light clothes of a kind she had never seen. She looked pale and… Brelyna started to move quickly, approaching the girl to better examine her. Since she had come to Winterhold, she had been taught repeatedly about the danger cold represented and what symptoms to look for.

"Hypothermia?" asked the professor as he came to stand behind her.

"She needs a warm bath and…"

"We will have Colette look at her once we are back at the College."

Brelyna felt the girl move. She looked her in the eyes and saw some fear, soon accompanied by a move of her hand, a hand holding an embalming tool. The Dunmer girl smiled at her, she hoped in a reassuring way while she lifted her hands slowly so that the stranger could look at them and see she was unarmed.

"My name is Brelyna, do you understand me?"

Seeing the girl's intrigued stare, she pointed her face while saying 'Brelyna', then pointed at her.

"Buffy," replied the girl, while keeping her armed hand ready to strike.

The Dunmer nodded then said 'Professor Gestor' while pointing at the man behind her.

"Do you understand me this time?" she asked again, following a hunch and using Daedric.

The girl shook and looked at her strangely. It wasn't that surprising for the Dunmer. The language of the otherworldly Daedra rarely had a good reputation.

"Yes… but I don't know how. Are you human?"

"No, I am an elf. We need to get you someplace warm quickly. Do you agree?"

The girl seemed to consider her options, probably having to decide if she could trust them. She finally nodded, looking like she had exhausted what little energy she still had. Brelyna saw her close her eyes again.

"Brelyna, hold her tight," said Phinis. "I am recalling us back to the College."

The Dunmer nodded and hugged the girl while the human teacher incanted. Magic soon warped space around them and silence reigned in the old tomb once again.

* * *

><p>Buffy woke up and the first thing she noticed was that she was feeling comfortably warm. The second was that she was naked and tucked in a nice bed.<p>

_Well, maybe a little on the coarse side for the linens but I'm not about to complain. _

Feigning sleep, she looked around, seeing arches of grey stones and paneled windows that made her think of the ones of a cathedral. One of those even had some picture in colored glass, a symbol that looked like an eye in a star. She was otherwise in a room with several beds – though only her own was occupied – and smelled of… it wasn't the smell she had come to associate with hospitals, the one she hated. It was nicer, reminding her of the herbs section at the Magic Box.

The gray-skinned girl she had taken for a hallucination back in the tomb was sitting in a wooden armchair next to her bed, reading an ancient-looking book. Her clothes themselves looked ancient. A dark purple tunic over pants and a shirt of the same color, the belt being held by a heavy silver buckle that just screamed Viking to her.

Now that she could look at her better, she also noticed how subtly alien she was. There were the ears of course, pointed ones similar to the ones of the Vulcans in Star Trek. Her traits were angular and would have looked strange on a human female. Yet, the way she held herself… this reminded Buffy of Willow when she was still in her 'shy nerd' phase.

"You are awake?" asked the gray girl as she closed her book.

Again, she had used that language, the one she understood without knowing why. The one she knew she had never learnt though she had the impression she may have seen pieces of it in Giles' books.

"Yes," she replied.

"Good, how are you feeling?"

"Better… warmer."

"That's good. From what we could find out, you fell asleep and your fire went out during the night. If we had not found you…"

"Thank you… but how?"

"Professor Gestor and I detected the opening of a portal to a Plane of Oblivion last night. We came to investigate as soon as we located it. We found you, someone wearing clothes that are… not local. We brought you back here to the College and Professor Marence healed you… which led us to another discovery."

"Which one?"

Brelyna looked embarrassed, as if she was trying to find a tactful way to say something.

"Listen… you have to realize how lucky you are that we were the ones to find you. When the teachers saw your tattoo, the first thing they noticed was that it was magical. So they analyzed it and from what they found out they deduced that the probability you were willing was very low."

"Ta…"

Buffy stopped, remembering the searing pain on her lower back just before the monster left.

"Do you have a mirror?"

"There is one in the examination room."

Buffy got up, draping herself in the outer blanket. The stone floor was cold under her bare feet but she didn't care. Her need to know what the monster had done to her was greater. She followed Brelyna as she led her into another, smaller room. She lost no time and came to stand before the big mirror, removing the blanket so that she could look at her lower back.

"A tramp stamp… he had to make it a tramp stamp," she said softly in English.

She had to admit that at least it looked like a well-done tattoo and not the cattle brand she had feared at first… though from another point of view it made it worse. It was a grinning, vaguely reptilian-looking demon head with two horns coming out of the side of the skull before curving front and downward. All of it was done in loving detail using multiple shades of black and red. So much detail and fine precision that anyone with a passing knowledge of tattoos would have a hard time believing she had not sat willingly through several painful sessions to get it inked.

"Let me guess," she said while she draped herself again in the blanket and sat on the examination table. "This is a bad symbol around here."

"Yes… and from your question I guess you don't know about it."

Buffy shook her head.

"Well… this is the symbol of Molag Bal and yes, he is bad news. To give you an idea, one of his titles is the Prince of Rape. Most people seeing that tattoo will believe you are one of his worshipers."

The monster's words echoed again through Buffy's head. He had said that he left her with something that would help her not to associate with the wrong people. He had in fact made sure that most decent people on this world would think she was evil.

"Let me guess, some of those people won't even let me try to explain."

"Yes. In particular you must be very cautious with the Vigilants of Stendarr. They are an order sworn to purge Daedric taint from Tamriel. They would rather burn you at the stake than let you 'tempt them with your vile words'."

Buffy frowned. She had felt the venom in Brelyna's voice when she spoke of those people.

"You don't like them."

"The College is not popular with them… well most wizardly groups aren't and who I am is not helping."

"Hem… sorry to ask this but it's because you're an elf?"

Brelyna had a little laugh. It was too tired to be a giggle but still…

"Sorry. It's… refreshing to speak with you, because you don't have the preconceptions the others have. My family is part of House Telvanni, one of the big noble houses among the dark elves. Our House is renowned for its wizards and for its 'might makes right' attitude. Personally…"

Buffy suddenly knew why she was liking this girl so much.

"You're just tired of having to live up to other people's expectations," she cut in, remembering her own experience in the matter.

"Yes. At least, here in Skyrim I don't have all of my relatives comparing everything I do with what my ancestors did. Just the fact that most Nords distrust magic and the Telvanni's bad reputation to make up for."

"You awake, good," said a petite brunette woman as she entered the room.

Buffy frowned a little. While Brelyna had been speaking fluently in the mystery language, the newcomer did not seem to master it well. She was maybe in her early forties and was wearing clothes similar to what the dark elf wore, though white rather than purple.

"Sorry. Daedric not good," said the woman. "I Colette Marence, Restoration Teacher and Healer. Brelyna translates."

The woman then switched to a different language and the Slayer's frown deepened. She was not good enough in that one to make conversation but she knew it. She had deciphered enough of Giles' books in that one. It did not sound like when Giles read something aloud which probably meant a different dialect but it was still Latin.

"Buffy, this is Colette Marence, the Restoration Teacher. She says that you are very lucky and that most humans would have died in your circumstances. Hypothermia would normally not have been as severe but that general exhaustion made you fragile. She advises rest and says that Professor Gestor is clearing things with the Arch-Mage so that you can stay here."

"I am not a wizard… in fact Buffy and magic are non-mixy."

Brelyna translated back and Buffy suddenly saw the glare of the older woman. She knew that glare. It was a patented 'you are wasting your life' Mom glare. There was another rapid string of sentences in Latin while the dark elf girl listened.

"Hem… Professor Marence says that this has rather to do with a lack of proper education and that everybody should know at the very least a few novice spells, particularly Restoration ones. According to the tests she did when healing you, you have a magicka pool that is deeper than average along with your other gifts."

"Gifts?"

Again a glare, this one of the 'I know what you did, young lady' kind. Colette said a short sentence to Brelyna and this time Buffy understood something like 'private' out of it.

"Sorry, but there are some results from the tests Professor Marence wants to discuss directly with you," said the Dunmer.

Buffy could see that Brelyna did not like being left out, even if she understood the need. It probably went alongside thoughts like 'is this newcomer a danger?'."

_I have to decide… to trust or not to trust. Even if I like Brelyna, I only have their words that… no, I have more. Maybe hypothermia would not have killed me if I had been completely fit but the fight against Glory burnt my last reserves. Hell, even if I am well enough to function, I still feel like I need a loooong vacation. They brought me here, healed me and I am not in chains. This is not the Initiative… maybe they are evil cultists of that Moby Gal guy and they just took me in because their boss told them to. Overthinking…_

"Buffy," said Brelyna. "I can almost hear the gears in your mind. You are wondering if you can trust us and given who you messed with recently, I understand perfectly why. So, I give you my word that if you want to leave, you can. The question is what will you do afterwards?"

"Yeah… alone in a strange world and not even a language I can speak without having people take out the pitchforks… the kind of fun that isn't. What will happen if I stay?"

"A good question," said another, female voice in Daedric as she entered the room.

It was a petite brunette woman who showed some resemblance with Colette, though not enough to be of the same family, but rather in the way two people of the same ethnicity could look alike. The first thing Buffy noticed was how sharp the woman's eyes were and how strict the bun of her hair looked. The man Buffy had seen while only half-awake in the tomb – Gestor if she remembered well – was following her.

"I am Mirabelle Ervine, the Master Wizard of the Mages' College of Winterhold," she said. "This means that I handle the day-to-day operations of the College. From what Phinis has told me, you are not from this world and have nowhere to go… I will be direct. I have two ways to allow you to stay. The first is not pleasant as you would be considered as… the result of an experiment."

"I think I will pass," replied Buffy.

"A sensible choice. The second is to enroll you among the apprentices. Normally, this is a place for higher learning and we do not allow people without at least a modicum of magical education. I will allow for an exception given your exceptional circumstances but under two conditions. The first is that in two months, I want you able to do two things. You will be able to hold a basic conversation in the Imperial and Nordic tongues. You will also be able to demonstrate the casting of basic spells in the five schools of magic. The second is that I want to know why you gained so much attention from a Daedric Lord. I insist that this latter point is not a matter of nosiness. It is a matter of security for the College."

_Okay… she's the local version of McGonagall. Reassuring in a way. At least with her I know where I'm standing. Better than having a smiling Dumbledore with lots of hidden motives…_

"I agree," she said. "The language that I suppose you call Imperial… we have a variant of it on my world but it's a dead language, only found in old texts. I can read it, but I never learned to speak it."

"That will make things simpler," replied Mirabelle. "Let's get you into something more presentable than this blanket, then we will go to my office. Brelyna… you come with us and take notes."

"Yes, Ma'am," said the dark elf, smiling to have a reason to be included.

A while later, now clad in purple robes similar to the one of Brelyna, Buffy sat in a chair near the fireplace of Mirabelle's office. Brelyna was sitting at the desk with a quill and lot of paper while Mirabelle and Phinis sat in front of the Slayer. Colette had declined as the interview would be held in Daedric and just asked for the notes afterward.

"So you want to know about my world… as my Watcher was saying, the world is older than you know…"


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author notes:_**_ Thanks to the people who took time to review this story. Your opinions and encouragements are a real help to me. _

_For those who played Skyrim, this story takes placed in the 200th year of the Fourth Era, which means before the game starts. Among other consequences, the High King of Skyrim is still Torygg. You will also see that I opted for a bigger population for Skyrim, starting from the dimensions for Tamriel (in The Elder Scrolls Arena : Player's Guide, it is said to be roughly 4000 km from east to west and 3000 km from north to south, for a surface of 12 million km²) that are slightly bigger than Europe. This puts Skyrim in the same league as Germany and will necessitates some adjustments on travel times. More directly, this chapter will show the College with more space and people as the ones shown in the game. Finally, this story also supposes that my usual play-through of the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind game took place. _

* * *

><p>Buffy looked at her hosts as she finished her story. She hoped that she had remembered well enough what Giles had told her about the Old Ones and how Earth had been, in the beginning, a demon dimension and from there what she knew about the Slayer, including what Molag Bal had told her in the ruins. She tried to decipher Mirabelle's expression, wondering what the woman was thinking and what decision she would take regarding her stay at the College.<p>

_I have been frank… the only thing I omitted is Dawn's nature as the Key of Dagon, only saying that Glory had declared her to be the right sacrifice. _

"There is probably more about your sister than you know," said Mirabelle, "but this is not a direct concern. Phinis, could Molag Bal have brought Buffy to the Saarthal site without you detecting it?"

"Easily," replied the summoner.

"He wanted me here," said Buffy. "The tattoo, the language he 'taught' me… He made sure you would be the ones to find me and that the only sensible option would be to stay at the College. The next question is obviously: why?"

"Indeed," said Mirabelle. "Our luck in this matter is that we are dealing with Molag Bal."

"Hem… why?" she asked with a frown. "I met the guy and…" she said while shuddering.

"Yes, he is generally considered one of the worst of the Daedric Princes and he considers mortals as toys," replied Phinis. "But where we have luck is that Molag Bal takes care of his toys. Unlike Clavicus Vile who almost invariably finds some a way to twist a bargain so that it will destroy the mortal daring to contact him, Molag Bal deals frankly."

"Domination… he wants people to submit to him," said Buffy. "I mean… he wants to see how much people will bend to gain his 'blessing'. He told me to 'be a lion among sheep'. Why here then?"

"The obvious reason would be learning magic," said Brelyna while going through her notes. "From what you told us, I get the feeling that the Watchers wouldn't like it if a Slayer learnt magic."

Buffy frowned. Again, the keyword was Domination. She remembered her fellow Slayers Kendra and Faith, as well as the few Watchers she had met during her career. Kendra would not have dared to contradict a Watcher and… well, Faith and she had issues but she had never considered the Dark Slayer the way those commando Watchers did. They had never seen Faith as a person. Somehow, Buffy was getting the impression that Molag Bal was tired of seeing his 'daughters' treated like crap. He wanted them, he wanted her to be 'lions among sheep', not 'expendable tools'. He had a plan to change things and she was part of it.

"No, they wouldn't like it… and it motivates me even more to work hard," she replied with a smirk. "May I stay?"

"Under the conditions I told you earlier," replied Mirabelle. "Molag Bal's intentions do not seem to be harmful to the College, though we will have to take some precautions. Your particular relationship to the Daedric Lord must stay secret. The fact you are coming from another world will be impossible to hide but the official story will be an accident with unknown causes. There are precedents in Tamriel's history and it should work well enough. In particular, I want you to be very careful about a High Elf named Ancano."

"Why?"

"Ancano is not one of the teachers. He is an advisor sent by the Thalmors… detailing all of this would take a long time so we will have to address this during your history lessons. To be very short, a peace treaty called the White-Gold Concordat was signed twenty-five years ago between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion. It was not favorable for the Empire and the Thalmors are emissaries of the Dominion's government. While we are independent and the Thalmors cannot force themselves in, the Arch-Mage allowed an advisor to stay on College grounds to placate them…"

Mirabelle took out a volume from a nearby shelf and turned some pages before using a quill to note down something.

"Brelyna, I assigned the room between yours and Yisra's to Buffy. Can you show her to the Hall of Attainment and let her meet the other students? I will have her supplies brought there in the meantime."

"Of course, Ma'am," replied the Dunmer.

"Phinis, I assign you as her main tutor for the time being. No need to put more people in the know. Brelyna, your notes…"

"They are organized enough to be used as a rough report, Ma'am. I can give you the final version tomorrow."

"Very good."

* * *

><p>"Wow…" said Buffy as she took in the view.<p>

She was standing on the exterior wall of the College, safely draped in a fur cloak to make up for the fierce north wind. The College was a big castle built on a rocky headland with cliffs maybe a hundred feet tall. On top of it stood a series of buildings that looked, from above, like a series of interlocked rings and discs. Northeast, facing the sea, was the main keep they had just exited, with the Arch-Mage and Master Wizard suites, a huge library and, from what Mirabelle had told her when going to her office, a kind of Aula Magna called the Hall of the Elements.

The exterior wall she was standing upon was actually the top of the College's central building, a thirty foot tall ring. From what she knew, the infirmary was there, as well as the classrooms and laboratories. Finally, she could see two other towers west and south. One of those was probably the 'Hall of Attainment' Brelyna was leading her to.

She looked around to see what was surrounding the College. Sea-side, the landscape was a maze of small, snowy islands and she could guess ruins on some of them. She frowned and turned around to look at the land side. A village… no she had to stop thinking as if she was still in California. She made a quick estimation of the number of houses and thought about big families. Probably over one thousand inhabitants and that made it a town by medieval standards. The town was nested against a mountain and she found the view to be a very Kodak moment, with all the snow-covered roofs and the tiny trails of smoke coming out of the chimneys. However… some things were just wrong. The first one was that the city walls were big… too big for a town of this size. As her gaze reached the cliff, she started to understand why. There were jumbled ruins at the bottom of the cliffs, particularly in the kind of small canyon separating the College from the town.

"What happened?" she asked, facing Brelyna.

"The Great Collapse, some eighty years ago. Winterhold was then a city rivaling Solitude, Skyrim's capital city. The actual causes are unknown."

"Earthquakes are frequent in the area?"

"Around here? Nothing worth noting down, at least not for someone born and bred in Tel Uvirith."

"Your home city?"

"Yes. It started as a tiny settlement but…"

"I sense a story there."

"Too long for being told in full while standing in the cold," she said while inviting Buffy to follow her on the wall's walkway. "To be very short, two hundred years ago, a big volcano called Red Mountain had a major eruption. It was a catastrophe for Morrowind and it didn't help when Black Marsh took advantage of the chaos to attack us. Tel Uvirith, despite being near the volcano, had been protected by the Nerevarine's magic. My people flocked to her and she led a coalition that stopped the invaders."

Buffy had a little smile. She was still learning to decipher elven facial expressions of course but she was pretty sure of what she had seen in the Dunmer girl's face when she had said 'Nerevarine'. It was the kind of admiration one in her home country had for people like Lincoln, probably amplified because Buffy was pretty sure the Dunmer girl knew this Nerevarine personally. A part of her wanted to ask more but she didn't want to hurt the girl by delving into personal questions given how complicated Brelyna's relationships with her family seemed to be.

"I suppose the College was protected by magic too?" she asked, coming back to the initial topic.

"Yes and this was actually a problem. The townspeople… some think an experiment here went wrong and caused the Collapse."

"Could they be right?"

"Impossible to say for sure but I don't think so. What's sure is that the College used to be fully inside the city."

Buffy had a look at the stone bridge leading to the town. There were a few problems with it though, like the lack of pillars to support the structure.

"Shouldn't they repair it? I mean, I can understand the lack of pillars if magic is supporting it but the rails are gone in many places too."

"There have been talks about it but… I think the Arch-Mage prefers to leave it like that for the moment."

Buffy had a little frown. She had yet to meet the Arch-Mage but she could already feel that his decisions were causing some tensions in the College, like allowing that Ancano guy here.

"Here is the Hall of Attainment," said Brelyna as they reached the upper entrance of the west tower. "We girls bunk here and the boys are over there in the Hall of Countenance," she added, pointing the south tower.

"And the teachers?"

"They have their quarters in the upper floor of the main ring."

"Is the girls' dorm off-limits to boys?" she asked, remembering some of the rules at the one she had resided in for a while.

"Great Azura, no! I mean… we're all adults and it's not a monastery. Also, we are wizards. We like to… experiment," she finished with an impish grin. "Joke apart, the boys know better than to take liberties with us. Physical strength does not matter much here. Other than that, all the teachers ask on the matter is to be discreet and to take potions against pregnancy. There are not that many of us anyway. With you… we're twenty-three in total at the moment, fourteen girls and nine boys."

"Only twenty-three?" asked Buffy with round eyes, once again looking at the huge buildings around her, probably designed to house and trains ten times as many students.

"I know… It's not much and the College feels empty at times."

"Hem… it might be a silly question but how does the College finance itself? With so few students, I doubt…"

"Enchanting and alchemy services make up most of the revenue. Professor Turrianus is the person to go to if you want more detail about it."

They entered the tower and went down the stairs. Buffy kept the fur cloak on her shoulders. The inside was only a little less cold than the outside and she was betting that people were used to gathering in rooms with fireplaces. Her theory was quickly confirmed as they entered the common room that hosted several small groups of women of various ages busily studying on one matter or the other. All were wearing the College uniform but the colors were varied. She remembered that it had something to do with the fact the uniform was magical.

Buffy listened as well as she could as Brelyna presented her to the students and told them that she only knew Daedric at this point. She studied the apprentices' reactions when Brelyna reached the 'from another world' part. It was mostly interest, though some had a hint of fear in their eyes. All in all, it wasn't too bad, she decided. The Dunmer then led her to a table where a human girl whose type would have likely been considered Afro-American in Sunnydale, dressed in red college robes was talking with another clad in deep blue robes. This one was more exotic. A lot more.

"Buffy, please meet my friends Yisra and Ilas-Tei," said Brelyna.

Buffy waved hello while Brelyna said something to the other girls in Latin that she didn't care to translate. She was too fascinated by Ilas-Tei. Sure, she had met some demons that had reptilian traits but this was different. Compared to some of those demons, she was even rather tame, humanoid except for the tail she could see pointing from under the heavy robes. The differences between Ilas-Tei and those demons lay elsewhere. The first she had noticed was that the green and black scales of the girl's head – whose shape reminded her of a tyrannosaur's – were all shiny. Buffy was actually betting that Ilas-Tei was using cosmetics developed for her species. The second was the way Brelyna had not even thought about warning her about one of the girls being non-human or non-elven. Dinosaur people, as Buffy was calling them in her head, were therefore a normal part of Tamriel's society.

"Sorry, Brelyna says you only Daedric. Only few words. Conjuration not me good," said Ilas-Tei in a strange, raspy voice as she rose from her chair.

Buffy concentrated, trying to remember everything she knew about Latin. Deciphering a written text when you had time to take notes and check the thesaurus was quite different from trying to talk.

"Same Imperial for me," she replied slowly, hoping her 'Giles' Latin would be understandable. "Was… question your people."

"We call ourselves Saxhleel," replied Ilas-Tei slowly in Latin, "but the Imperials call us Argonians. Welcome to the College."

She extended a scaly hand with short claws and Buffy shook it. It was warm, maybe a little colder than a human's but definitely still warm-blooded.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>Buffy looked at the pile of books on her room's desk and smiled. Sure, there was a little part of herself that wanted to sigh at the amount of work she had to do before she could pass her introductory exams in a little over a month but she ignored it. She turned to face the roll of paper on which she had drawn a calendar. Her tests were on the 28th of Sun's Dawn, the second month of the Tamrielic year.<p>

She was smiling because in the month since her arrival, she had been what she could never be, both in Sunnydale High and at the UC Sunnydale. Here, she was an almost normal student. Sure, the classes were not what she would have taken as electives back in California but it didn't matter. What mattered was the routine life, her interactions with the friends she had made on this world: Brelyna, Yisra and Ilas-Tei.

_That and the fact I don't have to worry about the next apocalypse, just about passing my exams._

_S_he had progressed well on some matters, less so in others. Imperial Latin was down. Once she had gotten used to the accent, it had just been a matter of learning the local expressions and vocabulary, some of which had been influenced by an old elven language. It was still slightly more complicated than switching between American and the Queen's English, but she could handle a conversation without mangling too many things.

Nordic was more complicated. As Buffy had supposed with the whole Viking theme in the local architecture, Nordic was just another name for Old Norse, though again there were influences from another non-human language, this time the one of the long-gone dragons. Still, she would be able to manage in the matters of asking for directions, ordering mead at an inn and other basic things, maybe a little more if she had some time to prepare her sentences in her head.

_Thankfully, most people in Skyrim speak Imperial and there is French… _

She giggled softly. It had come after she realized that some of the people here, like Mirabelle or Colette, had French-sounding names. She had then learnt that they were from a people called the Bretons and yes, they had their own language, one that sounded like old-fashioned French. Normally, that wouldn't have helped her much… if not for a certain Halloween night.

_After three years of thinking of that night with dread and remembering the noblewoman I became because of Ethan's costumes as 'Lady Useless'… but now… now the memories she left me are not so useless anymore. It's not only the language… I bet that in this world all those lessons on etiquette she had will become very useful if I have to deal with nobles. Also, it means I can fake being a Breton if needed as they tend to be pint-sized too. _

Her smile soured as her thoughts drifted back to Sunnydale. She hoped that they were all right as her chances of ever going back to Earth were slim at best. It was not only the difficulty of traveling through the Oblivion planes. The problem was that she was pretty sure that Molag Bal would sabotage any attempt in that direction. He had said to her that she was free 'up to a point' and to 'make a life for herself on this world'. To Buffy, the implications were clear.

"To use Xander-speak, I'm just as stuck as the Surfer after he rebelled against Galactus."

"Hi, Buffy," said a voice from her room's entrance.

"Hi, Yisra… what's the what?" she asked, finding back her smile. Making some equivalents of her Cali-speak in Latin had become a fun pastime of hers lately.

"Some of us are going in town to spend the evening at the Frozen Hearth. Talsgar the Wanderer is in town."

"Who?"

"Right… sometimes I forget you still don't know the important things. Talsgar is one of the best bards in Skyrim."

Buffy looked at her books and then thought about her schedule. She was on schedule and she needed a break anyway.

"I'm in," she said while going to her wardrobe to fetch her cloak and gloves.

She walked with Yisra, who had started to talk about her project to improve flame cloak spells and create a long duration, low intensity variant whose purpose was to protect the caster against the harshest blizzards. Buffy was mostly listening to the Redguard girl, still lacking the magical theory to help her new friend much. Still, she had discovered that she was often able to make interesting observations thanks to her combat experience.

* * *

><p>While the College didn't exactly have a good relationship with the town of Winterhold in general, the Frozen Hearth was an exception. Situated near the bridge leading to the College, it was a frequent hangout for the apprentices and the two innkeepers, Dagur and Haran, were always welcoming them. Their little girl, Elrid, also often came to ask questions about magic.<p>

Tonight though, the inn had welcomed a lot more than the usual crowd and Buffy and the others had only barely managed to find somewhere to sit and listen to the bard. She could see Dagur looking quite happy at how full his inn was. As for herself, she had to admit that the evening was pleasant. Talsgar had – in her probably biased opinion – a little something of Viggo Mortensen playing Aragorn. It was the voice she decided. His voice reminded her of the few scenes of the Lords of the Rings where Aragorn sang. She had since long stopped concentrating to translate the text in her head, just letting herself be moved by his deep voice and the masterful strokes of his harp.

_Tara would love this… _she thought with a little alcohol-helped melancholia.

She clapped cheerfully as the bard finished his performance and left some of her allowance in the hat that passed around the audience.

"I will get some more beers," said Brelyna. "Who wants one?"

Buffy raised her hand. Her tolerance for alcohol had grown since her arrival, in good part thanks to the lack of other things to drink. She started to discuss the show with Yisra, Ilas-Tei having preferred to stay at the dorm to work on her Calm spells. Suddenly, her gaze was attracted by Brelyna at the bar. She was trying to fend off the attentions of a big Nord man in leather armor. Buffy got up and approached, catching a few words over the inn's noise that sounded like 'Grayskin' and 'sluts'. She recognized the first as a common slur used by the Nords against the Dunmer and Brelyna had told her that female Dunmer teens had a reputation for being rather wild thanks to an unauthorized biography of the queen Barenziah.

"I'm normally not one to get into brawls but it looks like you need to be taught some manners," said Buffy taking the man's arm.

"Do your worst, wizard," replied Bjorn, turning to face her. "I can endure your sorcery."

She looked at Dagur who was mouthing silently 'outside'.

"Let's go outside," she said. "Unless a big Nord like you is afraid to face a tiny Breton waif?"

She saw Dagur's nod of relief and fought the smile that was appearing on her lips as Bjorn followed her. She knew that even with her basic knowledge of spells, there were many things she could do to neutralize him using magic. But she also knew that it wouldn't help the College's reputation. No, she needed to do things in a way Nords would respect.

She walked straight to the city guard standing on the other side of the street, remembering some cultural differences she had discussed with the Nord apprentices. Those were currently influenced by the rather difficult political climate in Skyrim. A lot of Nords resented the White-Gold Concordat and particularly the part that forbade them from worshiping Talos. From what she had understood, Talos, aka Tiber Septim or Ysmir, had been a Nord general who founded the Empire some six hundred years ago and became a god in a way similar to the old Roman Emperors on Earth. The Thalmors – who she had discovered to be elven supremacists – could not tolerate that and had obtained the outlawing of Talos worship as part of the peace treaty. A rebel faction called the Stormcloaks was disagreeing violently and wanted Skyrim to leave the Empire. They had quite a few supporters in Winterhold and it meant that ancient Nord customs sometimes took precedence over Imperial law.

"Hem," she said concentrating to speak Nordic as clearly as she could. "This man insulted my friend's honor and I intend to teach him manners. Without magic. Is that fine?"

The guard looked at her, probably noticing her size and comparing it to the one of her adversary. Finally, he shrugged. A fair fight between two willing participants was a time-honored tradition around here.

"As long as you accept the outcome if he beats you and don't damage people's property, this is fine."

"Thank you," she replied with a smile.

Back on the patio of the inn, Brelyna was worried about her friend. This man was twice as big as her and she wondered if she could do something discreetly. Her fingers had started to move when she felt a hand on her arm. It was a little girl, maybe a Breton, she remembered seeing in the audience.

"Your friend wouldn't like it and look at them! This is going to be so fun!"

Brelyna frowned, wondering what was happening when she saw the man rush to try to grab Buffy, hoping to use his greater mass and strength against her. Except she wasn't there anymore.

"Tag, you're it," said Buffy while she tapped Bjorn's shoulder, having flowed behind him in a supremely elegant movement.

Bjorn tried for a punch that the Slayer deflected easily with her left hand while the right struck right in the man's chest. He staggered a little, soon finding back his breath while the girl from another world stood nonchalantly.

Brelyna heard the little girl standing next to her giggle softly.

"She's so pretty," said the girl in the Dunmer tongue. "So innocent-looking and yet…"

Bjorn roared and lunged toward her friend while Buffy… it was effortless, as if she was using the man's strength against him, letting his mad charge transform into an uncontrolled fall that made him end with his mouth full of snow.

"Calmed?" asked Buffy. "Seems not," she said as she saw him rise again and take a dagger out of its sheath.

She let him charge again and Brelyna was expecting her to make another projection. Not this time. Buffy's moves became almost a blur and the Dunmer counted six strikes in less than ten seconds, using both hands and feet. Bjorn collapsed, nursing his arm while Buffy caught the dagger on the fly and started to make it flip expertly around her hand.

"Nice balance. You see," she said, "your mistake was not to ask me what I was doing before becoming a wizard. So…"

Bjorn was looking at her. The mouthful of snow he had swallowed had removed any trace of drunkenness from his head. He was a caravan guard and he had seen how her strikes had been so precise they had ignored his armor. He was strong and honestly skilled. She was smaller than him but her skill…

"I admit my defeat," he said. "I lost due to my own fault, because I underestimated my opponent."

"And…"

"I take back the words I said about your friend."

"Good enough," she said while handing him back his dagger.

Near Brelyna, the strange kid nodded.

"That was fun… say hello to your friend for me, I still have my chores to do before going to bed," said the little girl.

"I don't even know your name…"

"You can call me Babette. A pity I don't have time to stay, I would have liked to meet your friend. Maybe next time! I hope we'll be friends!"

The little girl waved goodbye and quickly slipped into the maze of narrow streets of the town. If Brelyna had looked better, she would have seen that the kid was tailing someone from the inn's patrons, a merchant who was rumored to have ruined several people with shady deals. Neither did she make any connection when, the day after, the merchant was found dead… and too little blood found around given his wounds.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Author notes:_**_ Thanks to the people who took time to review this story or marked it as one of their favorites. Your opinions and encouragements are a real help to me. _

_Special thanks to Narsil who betaed chapters 1-3._

* * *

><p>Buffy felt like she was back in high school. She was sitting on a bench just outside of the Arch-Mage's office. She had half-expected this, after yesterday's fight. Still, she hoped that things would go better than during her visits to the principal's office back in her high school days.<p>

_Well, he is a lot nicer than Snyder, that's for sure. _

She had only met the Arch-Mage once so far. It had been shortly after her arrival and the event had been short, with Mirabelle glaring at her to make sure she kept to the cover story they had devised together with Phinis Gestor. It wasn't that the Arch-Mage didn't know the truth. The problem was that Ancano had been present as well.

She had quickly fallen into her assumed role, tweaking her usual 'dumb blonde' act into an 'innocent maiden' one, maybe with a little subconscious help from Lady Useless. She was pretty sure she had managed to convey the point that she was too uneducated to know what had happened to her but had more than enough mental faculties to join the apprentices.

She had to admit that it had been hate at first sight between Ancano and her. She didn't mind his appearance. She had already been used to the peculiar traits of elves thanks to the time she had spent with Brelyna. Altmer just had yellow skin instead of grey. The problem had been his attitude… and the black uniform didn't help. The High Elf reminded her of Maggie Walsh, with the same condescension and will to control everything around him.

_Thankfully not all Altmer are like him… some are nice like Professor Faralda. _

Buffy had to admit that she liked the Destruction Magic teacher. Sure, she was demanding but Buffy knew all too well how magic could go wrong and she appreciated the teacher's 'do it right or not at all' attitude, particularly when it concerned casting fireballs. The novice spells had been easy enough, but they only meant to shoot frost, fire or electrical sparks on a short distance. The real constructed spells, the ones that meant doing things like propelling an icicle with an arrow's speed and precision were more delicate. She was progressing steadily though and did not fear for herself in this part of the exams she had in a month or so. Her results in some other schools of spells were more worrying.

She saw the door of the office open silently and she got up, entering the room. Savos Aren, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, was standing near a bookcase and putting back a thick tome. He made a gesture, indicating the seat in front of his desk while he went back to his own seat.

"As you can guess, I heard about yesterday and I thought we could take the occasion to speak. You may understand why this particular time is ideal."

"Yes, Sir. Ancano has left the College for a while. From what I heard, he left for Solitude, which probably means he is at the Thalmor embassy."

"So you keep yourself informed about his moves. This is wise of you," replied Savos, a small smile appearing while he stroked his black goatee.

Buffy nodded back. Thanks to Brelyna, she was getting learning the facial tics of the elves, particularly the ones of the Dunmer. She was also starting to understand how the Dark Elf culture functioned. From what her friend had told her, all the elven people once originated as the ancient Aldmer and split due to various events. The Altmer considered themselves the heirs of the original Aldmer culture while the Dunmer had followed a prophet called Veloth, renouncing worship in the Eight Divines to embrace the one of some benevolent Daedric Princes like Azura, Princess of Twilight. Their history after that became complicated but at the core, the Dunmer had stayed the same. They were a clan-based culture with barely repressed violence and strong ideas about honor and vendetta that would, in her opinion, have been approved of by Don Corleone himself.

"As a Dunmer," continued the Arch-Mage, "I appreciate what you did for Brelyna. As the Arch-Mage however, I have to think about the College's security. So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"This is why I didn't use magic, Sir," replied Buffy. "I also asked the guard if he was okay with considering this a fair fight according to Nord tradition."

"And from what I heard, the fight was so one-sided that people are wondering what you are doing in the College instead of being in Jorrvaskr. And that's only the tamest rumors I was reported…"

Buffy had heard about Jorrvaskr from one of the Nord apprentices. It was the Hall of the Companions, a fighter society based in the city of Whiterun. They had a very long history, being named after the men of the legendary king Ysgramor who led the first Nords to settle in Skyrim thousands of years ago. Being a member was a very big thing for Nords.

"Sir, if I may… it is not that I am not interested in keeping myself in shape and I don't mind a little gratitude but some Nords… they see it like a big game, one where gathering fame is more important than getting the job done. The problem is that people die when you play that game."

She stopped as she noticed something, like a shadow passing across the Arch-Mage's face. Yes, she knew that face. Giles had the same one when he thought about the mistakes he made in his youth. She was also sure that he had caught the hardness in her eyes, a hardness gained the hard way, after her own mistakes had her pay a price in flesh and blood.

"A very important lesson," he said, his smile slightly different now, maybe displaying a sense of kinship. "I regret that you had to learn it so young and I will help you as much as I can to understand Tamriel. Hopefully, you will not have to pay that price again. Let's start with what happened last night. You have shown tactical sense. You handled things without letting them degenerate into an all-out brawl between the apprentices and the local Nords. It also effectively prevented people from talking once again about how the high and mighty wizards lord it over the ordinary folk with their unnatural powers. But, strategically, you made a mistake given your unique circumstances. Can you tell me why you made the fight so one-sided?"

"Two reasons, knowing how Nords react. First, I prevented him from having lasting damage that would have left him without a job, given that he is a caravan guard. Second, by showing clearly that I am no beginner, I allowed him to save face when he lost…"

Buffy replayed the scene in her mind, trying to remember all of the décor elements she had seen but not really paid attention to as she concentrated on her opponent. She saw the audience looking at her, particularly Talsgar the bard who was maybe composing a song about her. How could she have missed that? The answer was actually simple. It was something that had almost never happened before and she knew why. The way she fought had a fundamental flaw. This flaw was intrinsically linked to the place where she developed her fighting skills: Sunnydale.

"…face," she finished, facepalming. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! This is not Sunnydale and people will talk!" she groaned.

"Can you tell me what would have happened in your hometown?"

"There is a thing… we call it the Sunnydale Syndrome. I don't know what creates it but from what Professor Neloren taught me, it is a specialized Illusion spell affecting the whole city. Most people… anything out of the ordinary, particularly the things related to magic, they forget it or find ways to explain it in mundane ways."

"Do you have an example where this suppression field came into full force?"

"My graduation from High School," she immediately answered. "The Mayor was a sorcerer who planned to sacrifice all the students attending the event so that he could ascend as a demon. He transformed into a giant snake and we blew him up with… alchemical explosives. Six months later, even most of those who had attended the event had convinced themselves an accidental gas leak had destroyed the school. There was no serious official inquiry."

"Very good, now let's imagine what would happen in such a scenario here in Skyrim. Local heroes taking care of such menaces are certainly not unheard of and it is possible that they would have to act alone if the Mayor made sure proof of his wrongdoing was hard to come with. The aftermath, however, has no chance of happening like it did in Sunnydale. In a week, the event would be known from Solitude to Riften and a report sent to the Imperial City by the Legion. Have you read about the Oblivion Crisis?"

She remembered that of course. Phinis and Brelyna had given her an overview of Tamriel's history and this particular event had been discussed. Two hundred years ago, a cabal of Mehrunes Dagon worshipers called the Mythic Dawn had assassinated the Emperor Uriel Septim VII and his family. Because of some complicated pact between the Emperors and the god Akatosh, his death had allowed Mehrunes Dagon to open multiple Hellmouth-like portals across Tamriel. Finally, an imperial bastard – in the genealogical sense – that the Mythic Dawn missed, Martin Septim, had sacrificed himself to close all the portals once and for all. She had been really interested in the story as it reminded her of her own experience. However, there was one big difference. It was how the Empire's population had dealt with it and the consequences it had. The Crisis was in history books with historians and wizards still researching it two centuries after the facts… and the Legion now had contingency plans for such events.

"Yes, Sir, and I see what you are implying. I won't hesitate to do what's needed but I promise to think twice about the consequences. I wouldn't like people like the Vigilants of Stendarr taking too much interest in little old me."

She could not repress a faint shudder. She had heard so many bad things about them from Brelyna that she had borrowed some books on Tamrielic religion in the library, to learn about the Divines. For most people, Stendarr was the God of Mercy and was considered to be an inspiration for magistrates and rulers. Those people forgot that his full title was 'God of Righteous Might and Merciful Forbearance'. The Vigilants were very big on the 'Righteous Might' part and the more she heard and read about them, the more they sounded like the Spanish Inquisition and not in a fun, Monty Python rendition.

"I am glad to see you realize this. On another matter, how are you doing in your studies?"

"The languages are good. Last night allowed me to realize my mastery of the Nordic Tongue was better than I estimated."

"Why?"

"It was important to convey my ideas with precision to both the man I fought and the guard."

"Typical hero reaction," he replied with a little laugh. "You shine under duress. And the spellcasting?"

"Given that I started with almost zero knowledge on the matter… it's not too bad but it's not sufficient yet. I still have a lot of work to do."

"I will let you go back to your studies then."

* * *

><p>"Good, good," said the kind old man as he watched her skin turn to bark. "You have it down."<p>

Buffy smiled at him as she flexed her hand. She had expected a loss of flexibility but there was none. Soon, the casting effect of the alteration spell faded but she knew it was still here, hardening her skin. The duration was still short but it would get better as her skill grew.

"You are already an experienced fighter, so I think you will understand quicker than others the limitations of this spell. What are they in your opinion?"

She had to admit that she rather liked the Alteration teacher. He was a Nord called Tolfdir and he made her think of a kind grandfather. Snowy hair and a short beard framed a wrinkled face. Not Gandalf though as the beard was kept short and the College uniform was not exactly like the stereotypical wizard robes, having pants and colors depending on the category of magical spells they were reinforcing. This made Tolfdir wear a green pants, shirt and tunic combo while Buffy was dressed almost the same, but in the purple of Conjuration.

"Armor does not equal invulnerability. It can help take less damage but even if the attack doesn't get through, there can be side-effects, like being tripped," she replied.

"You have no idea how difficult it is to have some apprentices understand that point," he said with a sigh. "I am glad to see that is not the case for you. Another question: would you cast this spell while wearing regular armor?"

"Yes, but I would have to remember it is less stable, probably offering less protection and staying for a shorter time."

"Indeed. At your level, the difference would be negligible but as you progress in your study of Alteration, it will become greater. It is a matter of choice in the end, of seeing what is the most effective for you. Now, while these are technically Restoration spells, we will exercise some more with Wards as Colette is rather busy with some of your fellow apprentices."

Buffy easily saw the teacher's shoulders sag, obviously disappointed at some people's recklessness, though thankfully not hers. She had been far too busy studying lately but from what Yisra had told her it had something to do with some of the male apprentices, Nord twins called Rundi and Borvir. They had a special project concerning the use of Ice magic to create what they called 'the perfect mead'. From what few details she had been told, one of their experiments had 'succeeded', providing them with a 'perfect' sample… and sent them to the infirmary when the apparatus exploded. Yisra had told her Rundi's first words when he briefly regained consciousness had been: "totally worth it."

* * *

><p><em>Hmm… which one do I… here, 'The Art of War Magic', <em>thought Buffy as she perused the stacks of the College's library.

She took it out, noting down mentally that she would need to check it out with the librarian. This actually made her smile a little, because in some things, Urag gro-Shub quite resembled Giles. Sure, the former was an Orc, actually an elven ethnicity called Orsimer that had mutated as a result of an ancient pact with the Daedric Prince Malacath. This meant he had green skin and short tusks not unlike a boar. But his love for books was just the same as Giles and students knew better than to forget to check a book out or bring back a damaged copy.

She felt again that nagging presence at the limit her senses and caught a furtive black robe moving among the stacks. She forced herself to calm and not follow her Slayer instincts that told her to hunt and kill the menace. She knew perfectly who it was, probably checking what books she was reading. Since her fight at the Frozen Hearth, she had half-expected it to happen and she had managed to keep the Arch-Mage's counsel: do not show off. In particular, she didn't want him to realize that her Slayer-enhanced senses could cut through the illusion spells he used to muffle his presence.

He never talked with her or even looked at her ostensibly of course. She was supposed to be beneath him, a lowly human of little interest to a mighty Altmer like him. It was a lie of course, the whole 'I am too important to bother noticing you' attitude. Just a con that worked rather well, people ignoring him in answer to him apparently ignoring them. Except he wasn't. He was watching and Brelyna thought that some among the apprentices informed for him too.

Buffy walked softly, a predator on the prowl, one with the shadows. She could see the black of his Thalmor robes while he took a book in the stacks, probably justifying his presence in this place. She could hear him mutter something. It was hard, in some elven dialect but one word has been in Latin among them: blade.

_Why… it must be important. Who can I… let's wait for him to go away and I'll ask Urag if he knows some special blade… and has an idea why a Thalmor agent like Ancano mutters this while thinking about little old me. _

* * *

><p>Buffy looked at the animals in the cage in front of her. The brown-furred rodents weren't exactly rats but shared many characteristics with them. Except they were the size of a cat. An adult cat.<p>

"How did you say they are called?" she asked the student currently sharing the lab with her.

"Skeevers. They are common in Skyrim but their current size is a recent mutation," replied Ilas-Tei. "You don't have to feel bad about them. They are pests."

"Disease carriers?" she asked, remembering a class in Sunnydale High about the Black Death epidemic.

"Yes, mostly the ones we call Ataxia and Brain Rot. People know better than to let them proliferate."

It was because of small details like this that she was reminded that Tamriel was not like the Earth. Technology was mostly in the Middle Ages, but people were globally more enlightened than the Europeans of that era, in no small part thanks to widespread magic. In this case, it meant no nonsense about bad air. There were spells to detect diseases and determining animals could be carriers without being ill themselves had been discovered a long time ago.

She had another look for the rodents and decided they were un-cute. It would make what would follow easier. Illusion magic was one of her weakest subjects because she didn't like what a good part of its spells were for: manipulating people. The other part she could handle better as it was sneaky stuff like invisibility. Still she had found one manipulation spell she wouldn't feel bad casting. It calmed people or animals and it was really handy if you intruded on some animal's territory.

"Are you ready?" asked Ilas-Tei. "I will use a Fury spell to make them attack each other and you try to Calm them."

"Ready."

_At least, I can also work on my Restoration spells, _thought Buffy about an hour later as she tried to heal the surviving skeevers a little bit. She would need more work for Calm spells as she had obtained a mere second of hesitation from her targets. She looked at Ilas-Tei who was taking care of the dead rodents and one that was too wounded to survive. She saw her cast a spell at the latter, then hold a gem while she used a shock spell to kill the animal. Blue-purple light seemed to rush out of the corpse and flow inside the gem.

Buffy averted her eyes. This was not something she wanted to think too much about even if she remembered what Phinis had taught her about it: Soul trapping. From the theory texts she had read on the matter, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. First, there was an intrinsic difference between the souls of sentient creatures like humans and the ones of animals or most Daedra, the first often called black souls and the latter white souls. Standard soul trapping only worked on the latter and was more akin to harvesting the life energy of a dying creature. What was in the gem had no feelings, no consciousness, even though it had some kind of power level related to that of the harvested creature. It was just energy that could be used to create enchanted items.

_But there is a darker art. There are black soul gems allowing the harvest of people…_

She had to admit that she had some kind of morbid fascination with the subject even if Phinis had told her to let it rest for now. Angel was the reason, because of the curse that kept his soul attached to his body. Maybe she could find a way to correct the curse's escape clause, the one that made him soulless again if he ever felt true happiness.

"What do we do with the corpses?" she asked, pushing thoughts about souls away.

"We take them down in the cold storage room near the alchemy labs," replied the Argonian. "There are many parts that are useful…"

"Can I say eew?"

"You sure can," replied the other apprentice with a little, raspy laugh.

* * *

><p>Buffy crashed into the chair in front of her desk. She had just come back from a well-earned bath after a stinky afternoon in the alchemy lab. All in all, alchemy wasn't very different from the chemistry she had done in science class. You put ingredients together and did things like heat them, using alembics and other apparatuses that were just older versions of the ones she had seen in Sunnydale High. The big difference came from that moment where you sent tiny jolts of magicka inside the ingredients to force reactions that should normally not happen. It was something that all wizards more or less mastered and some made their specialty, usually selling the potions, balms and other products.<p>

_Just like the pharmacists of old who prepared their own drugs on Earth… _

She felt the room's air on her legs' naked skin and thought it was fun how much she had adapted to Skyrim's cold climate in the last two months. Shortly after her arrival, she had often grumbled about missing the Californian sun. The polar bear fur covering her bed was something she had acquired to fend off the cold nights. It had required her to get over some of her Californian preconceptions but after a few stories regarding how un-endangered bears were in Skyrim, their numbers often pushing them far too near to human settlements, she had decided not to care. She had actually come to love how the soft fur felt against her naked skin.

This last thought made her muse over something she had seen only moments ago, the image of Brelyna luxuriating in the hot water just opposite her in the dorm's communal bath. She remembered being fascinated at how a drop had been following her collarbone before plunging between her breasts.

Given her luck with her boyfriends and seeing how happy Willow and Tara were back in Sunnydale… she had sometimes wondered if a girlfriend could be the charm for her. The whole question was whether she was curious enough to experiment… and if the other girl was interested of course. From what she had learnt, homosexuality was uncommon in the Empire but held no particular taboo. The Empire's main religion, the cult of the Nine Divines, did not really care. In particular, the priests of Mara – The Divines' Love goddess whose statues reminded her of the ones of the Virgin Mary – celebrated same-sex unions without any problem, saying that true love does not care about race or gender.

"Ready?" asked Brelyna from her room's entrance.

"Sure."

Brelyna closed the door behind and sat on the bed, unrolling a list. Buffy couldn't help but notice how the cream bathrobe brushed her friend's toned legs… she didn't dare to think more about it. Maybe Brelyna would be okay with it and maybe she would like it herself. That wasn't the problem. Earth was the problem. Getting involved with someone from Tamriel wouldn't be fair, not if it meant that she soon had to choose between her new relationship and her little sister and the Scoobies. She would wait… wait until she had lost hope of finding Earth again and decided to call Tamriel home.

Her friend had taken out a list and that made Buffy immediately look at the calendar above her desk. Only four days left. They had to determine what worked so that they could spend what little time they still had to plug the holes.

"So, let's check," said Brelyna. "Languages?"

"Almost fluent in Imperial thanks to nearly two months of immersion. Nordic… more problematic but I can get by."

"Alteration spells?"

"Oakflesh, Deep Storage and light spells mastered. Tolfdir more or less implied it was enough."

"He probably knows what kind of tyrants you are facing in other classes. Destruction spells?"

"Basic Elemental manipulation done. My best results are with Ice spells, the worst with Lightning ones. My Ice Spikes are pretty much perfect and my Fire Bolts usable. I'll spend what time I have left for Destruction trying to make my Lightning Bolts go where I want them to go. Next?"

"Restoration spells?"

"Wards were easy. A pity they take precious seconds to charge, maybe a project for later. Basic healing is all right too, including spells for other people. I trained on the skeevers we used for Illusion training… the ones we could save," she finished, leaning back further in her chair and rubbing her forehead.

"Illusion spells?"

"Managed to make Calm spells finally work but that's relatively minor. My results with dissimulation spells like Muffle are what I am counting on to pass. Given Deloren's fixation on Invisibility, it should work well."

"And Conjuration?"

Buffy had a heavy sigh.

"I understand the theory and I can perform the spells perfectly. No problem at all for the bound items. Summoned sword? Piece of cake. But for creatures… at most, I have around two minutes of stability and that's if I concentrate on thinking about nothing. It's just that… the summon feels how much I hate having to impose my will on it and the whole spell breaks down. Gestor is going to flunk me."

Brelyna looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You could ask the Professor…"

"The Gestapo… I mean Ancano is already looking at everything I do with a microscope. I heard him mutter something about blades when he thought I couldn't hear him. One little question to Urag later and I knew I had a problem."

"I see what you mean," replied Brelyna, nodding gravely.

What Urag gro-Shub, the College's librarian, had told Buffy was that the name Blades could have a very specific meaning in the Empire. It had been the name of the Imperial Guard – which doubled as a Secret Police – under the Septim dynasty but they had fallen out of favor after the Oblivion Crisis. They had finally been wiped out during the war, the Aldmeri Dominion having taken very badly their attempt to decapitate their government. The Thalmor seemed to believe clandestine Blades cells still existed and people they suspected to be Blades agents had a tendency to disappear.

"So if I ask for a favor, I will look even more suspect and if I flunk and get expelled… I bet that I will fall asleep in my little bed one night and wake up in a cell at the Thalmor embassy. Any idea?"

"Maybe… you need to demonstrate spellcasting in two areas of Conjuration, right?"

"Yes."

"And the problem is the resistance of the summoned creature's mind, right?"

"Yes, that's why I have no problem with bound items."

"I may have a solution then but… there is a domain of Conjuration that Professor Gestor left out. From what you told me about the Slayer… it should be easy for you."

"What's the 'but'?"

"It's Necromancy."

Buffy got up and started to pace around, her fists opening and closing as she thought quick and hard. On one hand, she had recurrent nightmares of Snyder telling her she was a failure and laughing as he held a calendar with the date of her exams circled in red. On the other, she could imagine quite vividly Giles' face if she…

"What's your reasoning?" she asked, stopping and facing her friend.

"First, Reanimation spells work by pushing magicka into a corpse to animate it. The trick is that it has no real willpower. It's just an automaton and it has no other choice than to do what the caster wants. Second… you are a Slayer. You have senses allowing you to detect undead. The way the Watchers want you to use them is to hunt undead but… but I think you can also use them to feel how magicka flows in Necromancy spells. If I am right, you should be a natural."

"The Watchers… Travers would have a sniper put a supersonic bullet through my skull for that… probably already would for what I can do now. How is Necromancy seen? If Gestor would pass me for demonstrating this, I suppose it's legal?"

"There are fine lines… Here at the College, it is legal. Professor Gestor would tell you that Necromancy is just a tool. As per Imperial law, necromancy is legal but the public display of the undead isn't. The churches of Stendarr and Arkay are both against it and in general, people don't like it. For us Dunmer… it depends. Buffy… it's just for your exams. After that, you can choose to concentrate on other schools."

"I… I won't have to do that on humans?"

"No. We can work it out so that you stick to animals, maybe a big wolf for your exam, without having it looking strange."

Again, Buffy's fists flexed, this time closing until her knuckles turned white. She only had four days left before her exams. She was out of options. She didn't know enough about Tamriel to function safely outside, not when factions like the Thalmor were starting to get interested in her. She had to stay in the College. Also… Ancano was looking for an excuse to meddle more in the College's affairs. A 'confession' from her saying the College offered shelter to Blades agents would be just what he needed.

"Can you go to the library and fetch some books on the topic?" she said, her face a closed mask. "I'll go fetch the skeevers Ilas-Tei and I put in cold storage."

"Sure."

Buffy managed to smile as Brelyna left but immediately started to shake once she was out of sight. In the deep recesses of her mind, a Xander disguised as Yoda was telling her something about the Dark Side. She didn't want to listen. The last time she had left her ideals get in the way of what needed to be done, Giles had to murder someone in her stead. And that was not even counting her naiveté in the whole Angelus mess or how she had failed Faith. Never again. She would protect the people who took her in. She would take that darkness on herself so that they didn't have to.

_After all… it's not like I'm risking my soul. No matter what I do, I'm going to Hell, to meet 'Daddy'… _

* * *

><p>She was looking at the dead skeevers on the tray in front of her. Her gaze shifted a little down the text written in Imperial Latin. Brelyna had been right. When she read the procedure everything immediately made sense, because the Slayer knew Death and Undeath intimately.<p>

"I can always talk to the Professor discreetly, you know," said her Dunmer friend, looking at her with obvious concern.

"No. As a famous general from my world said: 'the die is cast'_," _she replied, remembering the passages of Caesar's _Commentaries_ Giles had made her translate when she was learning Latin_._

She concentrated, feeling the magicka gather in her right hand, soon becoming visible as an eerie blue light. A swift gesture and ghostly strands of bluish mist escaped her palm, soon entering one of the skeever corpses through its eyes and mouth. A reply then, like a tingle in the corner of her mind, dulled sensations as tiny paws pushed clumsily, the mangled body attached to them trying to rise.

She should have felt horror at what she was doing but she was forbidding herself from thinking about anything other than cold, clinical observations of the process. This was just dead meat. It was no worse than the frog dissections she had done in science classes. Also… there was that feeling, coming from that dark part of herself, the one where the Primal Slayer played in the savannah. The creature that went by statements like "I am Death. Absolute. Alone" was curious. Like a cat discovering a new squeaky toy.

She concentrated on her Slaydar. It had never been her strong point back on Earth but thanks to her training in magic, it had been getting better. She could easily feel how the magicka flew and instinctively knew how to get the most from the body she was animating. A flick of her wrist and the fell energies strengthened the articulations, allowing the misshapen corpse to stand straight and move in a mockery of life.

Brelyna whistled and Buffy managed to smile a little to her friend. She knew why of course. She had mastered that particular spell in one try. It was something to be proud of, wasn't it? It was surely something no Slayer before her had ever managed… or been allowed to. It was something that could give her an edge.

_Remember… just for your exams and after that you stop… but I need it to be perfect for the exam. _

She advanced her hand, touching the undead beast, noticing how the rigor mortis had been chased away by the magic. She felt the tingle in her fingers, another of her Slayer-enhanced senses allowing her to feel the necromantic magic under the cold skin and fur. Cold… like Angel's flesh when they… no, she didn't dare to think about it again.

She let the spell go and observed as the corpse fell to dust, in a process similar to the one of a staked vamp back in Sunnydale, just a little slower. She pushed back the hesitation that came with the thought she was making things similar to vamps. After all, she had often used vamps when she was in Sunnydale, treated them like disposable tools, because most of them were not real people.

She concentrated on another skeever, this time working on her execution speed rather than taking time to feel each step of the process. The corpse soon rose under her power…

* * *

><p><em>That's the last one. <em>

Buffy made a few tai chi movements before entering the Summoning Room. She had discovered that the meditation-like state it provoked did wonders to help her magicka regenerate and she sorely needed it.

She had spent most of the day going through one exam session after another, the various teachers grilling her on what she knew and could do. The last one had been about Destruction magic and Faralda had been rather ambivalent on the matter. Buffy was pretty sure that the Altmer woman had been satisfied enough and that she would pass her… but she also expected her to schedule quite a few training sessions to 'work out some details'.

Her feelings on the other exams she had taken so far were good, more or less following the opinions she had discussed with Brelyna. This left Conjuration. Having it last had not helped her stress levels during the day but on the other hand…

_Time to get done with it. _

She pushed the door and entered the room. Phinis Gestor was here, having prepared some material on a long table near the wall. The exam would probably go the same way as the others, first with theoretical questions and then with some practical demonstrations.

"Professor," she said, joining him near the table.

"Good afternoon, Buffy. So, let's get started…"

He started to go over various topics related to Conjuration, like detailing concepts such as the Oblivion planes and its opposite, the divine planes of Aetherius and how Conjuration spells punched temporary holes between those realms and Mundus, the physical world. It wasn't that difficult for her. For the first time in years, she had spent two months studying without Slaying and people like Snyder or Maggie Walsh making her life impossible. For once, she had been fully able to use the capacities that had only shone once in her high school life, giving her unexpected SAT scores.

She likewise successfully demonstrated the use of a bound sword. She really liked being able to summon a spectral weapon with just a few words and a wiggle of her fingers. Not only would it have made her life a lot easier in Sunnydale but bound weapons being basically constituted of soul energy, they had an added bonus. They could harm ghosts. With some more work, the conjurer could even start to add other capabilities to them, like making them able to disrupt the spell keeping a summoned creature in Mundus or to trap the soul of a slain creature in a gem. The former interested her but the latter… not so much, even if she could think about some cases where it would have been handy.

"Very good," said Phinis. "Now, can you show me…"

"Professor, can I propose an equivalent spell rather than the elemental summoning?"

"What do you have in mind?" he asked back, visibly intrigued.

"I need a minute to prepare. I put the element I need in deep storage."

"Please do."

She started to incant, accessing what was in her opinion one of the most practical Alteration spells she had learnt. Brelyna had told her that it had been invented by the Nerevarine a little over two centuries ago, when the heroine was busy climbing the ranks of House Telvanni and fighting some big bad called Dagoth Ur. What Brelyna had told her about that woman had made her very curious. First, she was a human called Winifred but revered among the Dunmer for being the reincarnation of the greatest hero of the Dunmer people: Indoril Nerevar. Second, she also seemed to be one of the most inventive wizards Tamriel had known in millennia. The Telvanni being what they were, they only saw her talent and no one objected when she replaced Gothren as Archmagister of House Telvanni.

The spell itself was genius work on several levels. Buffy had looked at the theory behind it. It blurred the limits between Alteration and Conjuration and called on math she was pretty sure even Willow would have a hard time to figure out. But the trick, the second stroke of genius was that the layman sorcerer didn't need to understand how it functioned to cast it, just apply the procedure. It was like the difference between using computer software and being able to program it. For this reason, generations of adventurers with moderate magical skill also revered the Nerevarine.

She felt the item she had stored 'decompress' in front of her. Obtaining it had been disturbingly easy, only needed a short stroll outside of Winterhold's walls. With winter nearing its end, wolves were starving and a lone human at night too tempting to ignore.

"A wolf's corpse, I suppose for demonstrating a reanimation spell. Very interesting," he said, smiling gently at her. "We will discuss your choice but first…"

"On it, Professor."

Another incantation and again the ghostly blue light formed in her hands and soon poured through the fallen beast's orifices. She immediately felt the dulled sensations as she asserted her control on the corpse, energy pushing through the limbs. Having it move as a shambling zombie would have been easy but she knew her teacher. True, Phinis had asked a lot of her but he was also the one who had supported her each time someone said a beginner like her had no place in the College, no matter how unusual her circumstances were. He was the one who had used his free time to teach her more about Tamriel and told Brelyna he would, administratively speaking, count helping Buffy as part of her work as his assistant.

She expanded her Slayer senses and felt the magic, guiding the necromantic energies with precision into each limb. The wolf sprung on it legs, moving with a nimbleness that… she was now pretty sure it had been clumsier in life, because her spell had bypassed all the natural limiters normally existing in a body. She looked at Phinis as she ordered the undead wolf to come to heel. Surprised did not even start to cover it.

"When you arrived and told us your story… I decided I would only cover necromancy later, after I had time to let you learn the differences between Tamriel and your world," said the Conjuration teacher. "How is rather evident. Brelyna helped you and it is not like access to the common books on the matter is restricted. But why?"

"I have a problem with Daedra summoning," she replied, deciding to be honest. "I hate using magic to force people to obey."

"I see. The Daedra feels your uncertainty when the spell links you with it and this creates loopholes it can exploit to unbind itself. On the other hand, a reanimated corpse does not have a will of its own. A well-thought solution to your problem. Is it yours or Brelyna's?"

"Brelyna's," she immediately replied. Her friend deserved that praise.

"But the talent is yours… how long did you study for this?"

"We… we started four days ago," she said, hoping she was not making a mistake and showing too much.

"Four days… do you know that most necromancers never attain this degree of control?" he asked, looking like a man who just found a treasure. "I will gladly help you to master this. Leaving such a talent unexploited would be a shame."

_Oopsie… _

* * *

><p>Buffy really liked the dorm's bathroom. Hygiene had been one of the things she had been worried about during her first days at the College, thinking she would have to do with 'medieval accommodations'. She had soon discovered that the Empire knew about plumbing and sewers even better than the Romans did. Public baths existed in most towns and soap was commonly produced by alchemists, enhanced with magical properties for the most expensive varieties.<p>

In the College's case, it was even better. From what Tolfdir had told her with an amused smile, it had happened when he was himself an apprentice in the College over fifty years ago. An apprentice called Flavia, a girl freshly debarked from the Imperial City when the Legion transferred her father to Skyrim, had refused to 'live in squalor'. She had convinced most of the other female apprentices to help her with giving the Hall of Attainment what she considered a proper bathroom.

The result was a place where the water was purified automatically by enchantments when there was no one in the pool and kept heated through other magical devices. There also was a place to shower, the warm water cascading out of dragons' mouths sculpted in the wall. Over the years, the design had been reproduced in other parts of the College.

Buffy was currently taking advantage of the pool, soaking in the hot water. She fought back the hammers clanging in her head, concentrating just enough to let her magic freeze the water inside the small waterskin. She then leaned back in the bath, sighing with contentment as she put her improvised ice pack on her brow.

The night before, she had barely been back from her last exam, trying to think about a way to tell Phinis gently that she didn't want to continue delving into necromancy. At the same time, she was having what would have been shown in some TV shows she had watched as a kid as one of those 'little angel and little devil on the shoulder' moments. On one hand, there was the voice telling her that she should continue. She was a natural at the stuff and necromancy would give her the power to fix Angel's soul problem when she got back. On the other hand, the sense of right and wrong she had managed to bury under a lot of exam pressure was coming back with a vengeance.

Her thoughts had been cut short by the cheers as she reached the Hall of Attainment. Yisra had roped everyone into making her 'you're officially one of us now' surprise party. There had been a moving 'ceremony' where the Redguard girl had gifted her a ridiculous-looking staff that she had brandished with all the appropriate gravity, recognizing the thing as some kind of hazing. They had all managed to stay serious for a few minutes more before things erupted in laughter and Rundi and Borvir had pierced a keg of their latest creation.

"Brelyna?"

"Yes?" replied a tired voice from the opposite side of the pool, where the Dunmer was also holding an ice pack against her brow.

"What did Rundi say about aftereffects?"

"Still working on them… I feel like my head is being trampled by a kwama colony…"

"What's a kwama?"

"Big insect from back home, a little like ants. We raise them for their eggs… still, it was a nice party."

This made Buffy think about the one downer moment of the evening. Overall, she got along with the other apprentices well. Their low number meant that you knew everybody after a while and people gladly exchanged favors, knowing who the person to go to for a given topic was. For example, one of the senior apprentices, a Wood Elf called Enthir, was the person to contact if you needed to procure some things… through unusual channels. Even the teachers used his web of contacts when they needed some special ingredient without people knowing about it.

There was one exception though, a Khajiit named J'zargo. Buffy had been intrigued as he was with Ilas-Tei one of the two apprentices that was neither human nor elf. His species seemed to be some kind of evolved feline, overall humanoid but with a cat head, fur and a tail. From what Ilas-Tei had told her, it was more complicated but Buffy had decided not to ask too much as the Argonian girl seemed to have a huge grudge against him.

"Do you know what the issue between Ilas-Tei and J'zargo is?" she finally asked.

"The same that J'zargo has with every other student, only bigger," replied Brelyna with a sigh. "J'zargo is one of the best here but that's not enough for him. He wants to be number one. That's why he rarely helps anyone or asks help from anyone. Other people are competition."

"Okay… I understand better why he looked at me so… calculatingly. I passed my exams, so it means that I'm in the race."

"You can add to that that I am pretty sure he is the reason why one of my projects failed," added Ilas-Tei as she lowered herself in the water, sighing of delight.

"Hem…" started Buffy, feeling bad for having discussed the matter… and for her hangover having prevented her from hearing the Argonian girl enter the bathroom.

"No need to excuse yourself, Buffy," she replied. "You have to know that our respective peoples… we usually don't get along. Some say that it's lucky that a bit of the Cyrodiil province stands between Elsweyr and Black Marsh. It prevents us from being continuously at war. J'zargo wants to make sure he is better than me in every domain."

"You think he sabotaged your project?"

"Not actively," said Ilas-Tei as she filled three small cups with a sparkling liquid. "He just conveniently forgot to tell me something a teacher asked him to transmit and the potion I was working on overheated."

She gave the cups to her friends.

"What's in it?" asked Brelyna

"Counter-poison and a bit of stamina enhancer. It will help with the headache."

Buffy quickly swallowed the sparkly drink. The magical liquid immediately started to chase the hammers away. As the three of them rested in the pool she soon heard the door open again and noticed it was Yisra. However, something was wrong. She was fully dressed and her face full of worry.

"Buffy, I need a favor," she said, crouching near the pool. "We have to go fast as…"

"Yisra, please calm down and explain."

"It's my cousin, Sudi. She's living in a lighthouse with her parents and brother not too far away on the west coast. The last time I visited her, I gave her a locket I enchanted… it's a pair. If one is broken, the other reacts."

"And you think something happened… your cousin knew about the panic button in the locket?"

"Yes."

"When did your locket break?"

"Only a few minutes ago."

Buffy started to rise from the water.

"I'll go ask Professor Gestor for a leave authorization for the four of us," said Brelyna, rising in turn. "You didn't think you would be able to get rid of us so easily?" she added with a smile, seeing Yisra's face.

"Indeed," added Ilas-Tei. "This is Frostflow Lighthouse?"

"Yes."

"Six hours by boat with average wind," replied the Argonian. "I know a fisherman who can take us."

"It may be nothing but…" said the Redguard, embarrassed.

"But you have a hunch," cut in Buffy. "So we get dressed and we go."

"Thank you!" replied Yisra as she gathered her friends in a group hug.


End file.
